this purgatory is via ôdischarge.ö In the House, a majority of Representatives must sign a petition asking that the measure be brought to a vote by the full House. If a majority sign the petition, then the full House votes on whether to pull the bill out of committee for a vote on its merits. In the Senate, members make a motion for discharge, and the Senate votes on the motion. However, this method is rarely employed. Any member attempting to discharge a bill from committee would be rebuking the House or Senate leadership, which likely would result in recriminations for that Representative or Senator.
If a bill is considered, the subcommittee holds hearings, allowing those for and against to weigh in. Meanwhile, lobbyists for both sides bend the ear of the subcommittee members behind the scenes. After consideration, the subcommittee can ômark-upö the bill. At this stage, the subcommittee members air their opinions and often try to alter the bill by offering amendments (hence the ômark-upö as they change the bill line-by-line). The subcomm
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